Bakers both talk, break bread

Five bakers drove three hours to Hood River on Wednesday to visit Feliza Greenwald, baker/owner of Knead Bakery. The five were from Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe, a cooperatively owned bakery in Astoria.

“It’s time for us to replace our oven,” said Tom Kulesa, one of the Astoria bakers. “We’ve heard great things about Knead’s bread, and her shop’s about the same size as ours — we thought we could learn more from Feliza than one of the big bakeries in Portland.”

The visiting bakers arrived early enough to see the Knead bakers’ workday from start to finish. Of particular interest was the opportunity to see Knead’s equipment in use.

“Her equipment is very good. We need to get a more reliable oven, like hers, so we can think about getting more wholesale accounts,” said Kulesa.

After a morning of baking together, Greenwald and the Blue Scorcher bakers shared a lunch that included loaves from both bakeries.